


family is family

by peachyboi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21912352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyboi/pseuds/peachyboi
Summary: Christmas is a lot for Tony. It's a lot for everyone. Especially since it's Tony's first Christmas with Peter.Teen & Up due to swearing.
Relationships: Happy Hogan/May Parker (Spider-Man), Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33
Collections: Iron Dad Secret Santa 2019





	family is family

Christmas is weird for Tony. When he was a kid, it was always such a huge deal. Banquets, dances, shaking hands with people he had never met, talking, and receiving disappointed looks from his father. He always tried his best around Christmas, as he didn't want to ruin the joy of others. He never really got, 'gifts,' which of course isn't the meaning of Christmas, but still. Sure, his father might throw a skipping rope at him and mumble something about presents, but that's about it. The only really notable gift he can remember from his childhood was from Jarvis. The man had given him a small stuffed teddy bear, and Tony had almost cried. He named him Teddy of course, because he was 7. Still, he did love that bear, and it was stashed in a box somewhere. 

His first official, "Christmas," would probably be his first year at MIT, when he met Rhodey. The older boy had decided to invite him to his dorm, and they stayed up all night on Christmas Eve watching stupid movies. They had decided on no gifts, and it was a pretty good night, if Tony did say so himself. He would never forget it, and he was sure Rhodey wouldn't either. 

Once he got with Pepper, they had some pretty nice Christmases. Just Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and Tony, laughing and chatting as they ate crackers and cheese, listening to the fire crackle. Pepper's first gift to him was a new tie in the Ironman colours, with the words, "Stark men are made of iron, but you are made of gold." He almost cried, which was made worse when he pulled out the jumper cables he had gotten her. Needless to say, Rhodey and Happy never really let him escape that mistake.

This Christmas, however, jumper cables were the least of his worries. This was the first Christmas that he and Peter would spend together. The kid missed quite a few Christmases while - ahem - dusted. Peter didn't like to bring that up, and sometimes Tony would hear him crying about the wasted and missed years. He went to talk with him once, and he seemed to uncover the true weight on the young by's shoulders as he sobbed, tight against Tony's side.

They never talked about it again.

Peter seemed pretty excited, and he had of course already made plans for Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Morgan, Happy and May to celebrate together. May was excited, and Peter faked gagging when she asked him what he thought Happy might want. Tony joined him in that, scrunching his nose. May yelled at the two of them to shut up, blushing deeply.

Peter was also, of course, excited about Christmas with Morgan. When they first met, Tony thought he was going to die. The night started with Legos and ended with Peter webbing Morgan to his back and galloping on all fours across the ceiling. Tony had to, 'unfortunately' put an end to that, much to the despair of the smaller humans.

This Christmas was important. It had to be perfect, or it might just not work at all. He started planning on November 1st.

\--- 

"Trees! Trees! Trees! Let's go trees!" Morgan chanted, shrill and sweet. Tony scowled in the front seat. Peter smirked at him from shotgun.

"Trees! Trees! Trees! Let's go trees!" Peter joined in, and Tony mimed smashing his head into the steering wheel. He clicked on the radio instead, blasting "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer". Peter clicked the off button.

"Hey! That's my favourite!" Tony said, faking a frown. Morgan giggled in the back seat. 

"What's wrong with you, huh little miss?" Peter joked. Morgan giggled again.

"Rudolph is the worst Christmas song! Daddy has awful taste in music." She said, and Tony rolled his eyes. 

"Oh, really? What's your favourite, Santa Claus is Coming To Town?" He asked, and she shook her head quickly. 

"Frosty the Snowman." She replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What about you, Pete?" Tony asked.

"All I Want For Christmas Is You, Mariah Carey. Duh." He said, and Morgan laughed. 

"See, Daddy? Peter has good taste in music!"

"I feel very ganged up upon. This is offensive really. I'm just trying to be a good dad, and you guys are just being mean." Tony sniffled, turning to Peter quickly with wide eyes. 

"Eyes on the road, old man. I would rather not die today, thanks." Peter snarked, his eyes lit with amusement. He was aware that there was no possible way they could crash, with the advanced technology of the car along with his spidey-sense, but Tony should be responsible for once in his life. 

"Hey, Morgan, close your eyes please." Tony said, and when she complied, placing a small hand over her eyelids, Tony flipped Peter off.

"Hey!" Peter whined, sticking out his tongue. "So immature."

"Mhmmm. Says the one who spent three hours building a lego set with Ted last night." 

"You know his name, Mr. Stark." Peter said, shaking his head in disappointment. 

"Yeah, but it pisses you off when I pretend I don't." He said with a cocky smile. Peter lightly punched him on the arm.

"Hey, watch it, fucker! I'm driving! I thought you said to watch the road?" Tony yelped, and Morgan began to bounce in the back seat. 

"Fucker!" she yelled. 

"I swear to God, I am going to die if she says that in front of Pepper." He groaned.

"Yeah, you can be a real fucker sometimes, can't you?" Peter teased. Morgan cackled in the back.

"Peter Benjamin Parker!" Tony said, laughing.

The rest of the ride to the tree lot was spent with Morgan yelling "fucker!" at random times, Tony frantically shushing her and explaining why it is wrong, and Peter watching everything go down with a huge grin on his face. 

When they finally did arrive, Tony found himself smiling. He never really took the time to appreciate the aesthetic of tree lots, he always just picked the biggest one and left. But as as he watched the snow flutter lightly to the ground, the ground pearl white and crystalline at his feet, he found himself taking in the scene before him with awe. The sky was a pastel blue, swirled with clouds that looked very much like cotton candy. Pine trees surrounded them, some tall and mighty and others stout and short, proudly displaying their gorgeous branches. The scent of sap was dancing on his nose, and he took a deep breath, watching all the other families before him. This was nice. 

"Hey, hurry up fucker." Peter whispered. Tony lightly smacked him on the head. Morgan gasped. 

"Daddy! No hitting!" She said in a hushed tone. Peter nodded innocently. 

Tony sighed, smiling softly. "Let's go find a tree."

Peter ran ahead, Morgan at his heels. They stopped at a tree here and there, usually the gigantic, full, lush ones that looked so pretty with the snow blanketing the needles. Pepper had texted Tony that she wanted a big tree that they could decorate, and who was Tony to disagree? He was glad they all seemed to be on the same page. 

Peter skidded to a halt in front of an extremely small tree, Morgan panting heavily behind him. They both looked at each other in sync, nodded, and then returned their gazes toward Tony. 

"That one." Morgan said, pointing. 

"That one!" Peter echoed. 

"That one?" Tony asked. 

The tree was in a small corner of the lot. It's trunk couldn't have been wider than Morgan's arm, and it was just at her shoulder. The branches barely had any needles on them, and you could clearly see the trunk and all the twigs. It didn't even have colour, and no pine could be smelled. It was, put simply, ugly.

Tony snapped a picture and sent it to Pepper before laughing hysterically. 

"Good one guys. Haha, very funny. Smallest tree on the lot. You got me. Now, which do you want?" 

Peter and Morgan stared blankly, and Morgan took a step forward to grab Tony's hand. She placed it gently on a branch of the tree. 

"Feel that, Daddy? That's tree love."

Peter and Tony were extremely confused, but Morgan nodded solemnly, her eye suddenly filling with what seemed like wisdom. It was quite unnerving.

"The tree has lots of love. It's a good tree. I like it." Morgan said. Peter seemed like he understood.

"Yeah, Mr. Stark. Tree love."

"Is this seriously happening right now? Am I high on meth or something?" He asked, puzzled. Many nearby people around swiveled their heads and made disapproving clicking noises.

Pepper finally texted back, and Tony tapped his kids on the shoulder.

"Hey, let me read you this text she just sent, so you are all aware. I am directly quoting by the way, so don't blame me. Here it is, 'that is the ugliest tree i have seen in my entire life. we are trying to make the house look nice, not ugly, tony.' I'm going to say that's a no. Can we return to nice trees?" Tony asked, still extremely lost. 

Morgan and Peter, as if on queue, widened their eyes, looking up at him pleadingly. 

"No." Tony responded. Morgan fake sniffled. 

"Mr. Stark, when i was two, before my parents died in the plane crash of course, we always used to have a small tree. It was a family tradition, and-" Peter began, in a sad tone of voice. 

"Fine! We can get it. God, I hate all of you." Tony said, but there was no harshness to his words. 

As soon as he turned his back, Morgan and Peter high-fived happily, Peter grabbing the tree. He ran up ahead again, carrying Morgan on his shoulders, who was yelling gleefully, and the tree in his arm, tossing it to Tony as he ran, who just barely caught it. They pranced around the lot, Morgan pointing out trees that he liked as they tried to decide on the perfect tree for Pepper. 

Morgan brought Peter to a halt at a gigantic, beautiful tree that smelled sweetly of pine and snow, it's branches full and a beautiful deep green that seemed to shimmer n the sun. It was tall, but not lanky, full, but not fat. It was perfectly perfect. Morgan looked over at her father, who nodded. 

"Good Pepper tree. Nice choice, compared to that ugly weed." He commented, much to the dismay of his two children. "Let's go buy them and wrap them up."

When they arrived at the counter, the worked seemed slightly confused, but scanned the tags on the two trees nonetheless, his nose scrunching in confusion at the small, ugly, cheap tree in the fancy billionaire, Tony Stark himself's hands. 

Morgan watched in awe as they put the big tree into the machine and it came out wrapped in the net. Tony insisted that the tiny tree need not be wrapped, as it could fit on Peter's lap very easily. The two kids waited patiently, and Tony 'helped' Peter carry it to the car, barely lifting a needle of the weight. They successfully strapped it to the car, and placed the so lovingly named, 'loser tree', on Peter's lap just as the sky began to get dark.

They all got in the car, turning on Frosty The Snowman to lessen the mockery and judgement. Tony went over the word that we were not going to tell Pepper once more, explaining that she had also called dibs on that one. Peter laughed in his seat, very much not helping, which Tony informed him of multiple times. 

Both Morgan and Peter passed out on the way home, dozing softly in their seats as Tony watched them fondly. Peter was bundled up in his Star Wars blanket while Morgan was wrapped in her Paw Patrol one, snoring softly. Tony felt joy rise in his heart, and flicked on Rudolph again, significantly turning down the volume so that it was just a soft hum. Peter blinked awake, looking around. 

"Where am I? Oh, stupid music." He mumbled quietly and incomprehensibly, and then promptly fell back asleep. Tony chuckled to himself, and hummed softly, a smile dancing across his features. He watched as the world flew by, and looked up at the stars, twinkling on a clear night. Sighing, he studied the constellations with a concentrated gaze, letting the car do all the work. Now that they had a big tree, for his lovely, stubborn wife, and the ugly tree for his dumb, amazing kids, maybe he could relax for a bit.

Probably not, but a man can hope. He began to think about Christmas, gift and decoration ideas popping up into his head, as he mentally checked them off and saved them for later. What formed in his head seemed like a solid plan and he nodded to himself, finally pulling into the driveway. Pepper waited for him at the door, but when Morgan didn't immediately jump out to greet her, walked forwards and swung open her door with a flourish. Morgan was drooling onto her blanket, and Pepper gave her a kind smile, swooping her up into her arms. Tony groaned, staring at Peter in the shot gun seat. He poked him for a minute until he finally stirred, raising his head slightly.

"Huh?" He said groggily, his eyes opening as he looked around. He finally landed on Tony's face, and stuck out his tongue before tossing his blanket to Tony, holding the ugly tree in one hand. He unstrapped the tree by simply pressing a button and then grabbed the large tree in his other hand, stumbling towards the house. Tony rolled his eyes, amused, and helped to guide the tree into the house. Pepper nodded approvingly as she saw it, and Tony felt fairly accomplished. She crunched her nose up at the ugly tree, shaking her head. 

"I said it was an ugly fucking tree, Pep, trust me." He complained. 

Pepper shushed him as Peter raised his head, muttering, "Bad word, Mr. Stark," before leaning the trees against the living room wall and slinking upstairs. Pepper motioned for Tony to sit down, and she walked upstairs to place Morgan in bed before returning. 

"Fun time?" She asked, placing a hand on his arm. He shook his head, grinning from ear to ear.

"The best."

"Well, that's good. We should take out the decorations so we can put them up on the tree tomorrow. Maybe me, you, Morgan, Pete, Rhodey and Happy? The kid can invite May if he wants, of course." 

Tony nodded in approval, snuggling into his wife's side. She was always so warm, and often reminded him of a fire. She provided so much light and joy, so much energy and potential all swirling together into this wonderful woman. Sure, he got a little frustrated with her sometimes, but she would always be his little, warm, sweet campfire. She kissed the top of his head, leaning back onto the couch. 

"We should go to bed too." She laughed, muffling a yawn. "I'll text everyone about tomorrow." She added, and then slowly got up, grabbing Tony's hand as they went upstairs together, Tony falling asleep as soon as he got under the covers. 

\---

Peter woke up to bright light streaming through his window and the smell of chocolate chip pancakes in the air, which is really the opposite of a problem. He stretched, raising his arms above his head, and ran a quick hand through his hair. He had clearly managed to get into his pajamas last night, which he was grateful to his past self for because the pancake smell was driving him insane and he couldn't wait another second. He focused on the sounds downstairs, and heard the voices of Pepper, Tony, Morgan, Happy, and for some reason, May, who he didn't remember talking to her about joining them.

He walked downstairs, his socked feet clunking on the steps. Following the smell of pancakes, he soon had a loud, shrill voice yelling, "Peter!" and a small girl sprinting towards him as fast as she possibly could, leaping into his arms. He caught her easily, sweeping her into his arms and smiling at her. Morgan smiled back. 

"Good morning! Your Aunt is here. She came with Happy."

Peter scrunched his nose. "Ew." 

Morgan giggled, before squirming around, Peter letting her back down onto the ground and following her. 

May greeted him, opening her arms for a hug which he gladly accepted, and sticking his tongue out at Happy, who sighed and rolled his eyes. Tony peeked his head out from the kitchen. 

"Hey, Pete. Morgan requested chocolate chip in your honour. She usually picks blueberry, so you should feel special." He flipped one in the air, catching one easily. 

"Wow, Dad skills coming in handy, huh? Also, May, what the fuck." He commented, turning back to his beloved aunt who was smiling sheepishly. Morgan looked shocked. 

"Language!" The young girl yelled, and Peter shook his head, turning back to May. 

"Firstly, listen to Morgan, Peter Benjamin Parker. Secondly, you didn't invite me. Happy did. So, too late, loser." She said, taking a sip from her coffee. 

"Am I still dreaming? Is this a nightmare? I think so." he groaned. 

Pepper finally joined them from upstairs, dressed from head-to-toe in business attire, a black pencil skirt covering her legs. She did wear a red blouse, which Peter assumed she had decided upon for Christmas. She smiled at all of them, looking about 20 times better than everyone in the room, who were all in pajamas or sweatpants. 

Tony began to bring a towering plate of pancakes to the table, serving Peter his first with about 10 pancakes neatly stacked on top of one another. The food began to be passed around, the smell of syrup and chocolate in the air. Happy and May were sat next to eachother, a little too close if you asked Peter, who was sat next to May and Tony. Morgan sat between Tony and Pepper, cheerfully stuffing her mouth with as many pancakes as she possibly could. It was silent for a bit, just the sound of pancake eating, until Pepper finally spoke. 

"So, we are decorating the big tree today, in case anyone was wondering. Rhodey should be arriving after breakfast. We have the decor boxes over there, there's all sorts of tinsel and ornaments and all that. Peter gets to pick the music so we don't listen to ACDC or Frosty The Snowman on repeat. Do we have any questions?" She asked. Morgan raised her hand. 

"What about the little tree?" 

"You and Peter can decorate that one because you made the sinful choice to pick it." Tony instructed, and Pepper nodded in agreement. 

"Bullying!" Peter exclaimed, but continued to eat his pancakes. 

"Are you the kind of people who have ornaments that must be placed near the top and others near the bottom, or do we just do whatever?" May asked. Pepper smiled. 

"Good question. We could not care less. Hot chocolate station on the counter folks, if you want some."

Rhodey showed up a few minutes later, dressed in the ugliest Christmas sweater possible, which Tony commented on multiple times, comparing it to the sad tree sitting in the corner, much to the dismay of Peter and Morgan. 

"I wanna put the first ornament on! Peter, can you lift me to the top?" Morgan asked, her eyes wide with excitement. Peter nodded, and she picked a gingerbread man from the box, holding it delicately in her small hands. Peter lifted her in his hands, holding her high so that she was able to reach the top branches. She hooked it on, beaming, and he lowered her back to the ground. Everyone clapped for her, Tony seeming much prouder than he should be for someone just placing a gingerbread man on a tree. 

"Alright, good job Morgan. Now, let us begin."

Peter pulled a box towards him, shuffling through what seemed like hundreds of ornaments. He picked out a large gold one, when he felt his jaw drop at what lay underneath. 

"Mr. Stark, you're gonna make me cry. Wow, i feel so loved." Peter said in a joking tone, but there was clear emotion in his voice. Tony looked over to see the boy holding a red and blue Spiderman ornament in his hands, cradling it close to his chest with a large smile on his face. He practically skipped over to the tree, hooking it on with pride. 

"Don't act so happy, i have one for everyone." Tony grumbled, but Peter couldn't see any other superhero ornaments in these boxes, aside from a War Machine one or two. 

May and Pepper had claimed one side of the tree, saying that their side had to be perfect and that anyone else would ruin it. Morgan was allowed on that side as well, of course, because she was perfection in human form and therefore could not possibly ruin it. May was grabbing the big red ones, hanging them with precision and care, making sure that the branches were perfectly ruffled in just the right way. Pepper put barely any effort in but it still came out wonderfully to everyone's dismay. 

Rhodey and Tony were clearly arguing about something, Rhodey holding a neon green ornament in his hands and crossing his arms, shaking his head. Tony was holding a silver ornament, clearly more bothered than his friend. 

"No! Neon green doesn't go with the palette!"

"Who decided the palette, huh?" Rhodey fired back, and Peter muffled a laugh. 

"Us all! Together! Do you see any other fucking lime green ornaments, huh?" Tony said, gesturing wildly with his hands. 

"You let Peter put a fucking blue and red one on!"

"Red is Christmas-y, bitch!"

"So is green, dumbass!" 

"Not neon green! Do you see any neon green Christmas trees? Huh? Thought so!"

"Tony, Rhodey, shut up before I come over there. Let him decorate however he wants." Pepper warned from across the room with a stern look. 

Rhodey smirked, smugly standing there as Tony looked extremely frustrated and confused. 

"Traitor." He said under his breath. 

Morgan was currently yanking on Happy's hand, encouraging him to grab an ornament to put on the tree. She was pointing out various ones, and much to May's apparent joy, he finally settled on a snowflake shaped one that he placed at eye level on the tree. Morgan was filled with glee at this. 

Tony had now decided to go and bother Pepper, and was standing next to her and handing her ornaments, which she would scoff at and grab her own. 

"Why can't we use this ornament, exactly?" He asked. She snorted. 

"It's not the vibe that we're going for on this side." 

"What is that even supposed to mean?"

"Figure it out." She responded. 

Morgan ran over to them now, jumping into Tony's arms. Surprised at this, and instinctively catching her, he dropped the ornament, Peter racing forward and catching it last minute, divng to the floor. 

Pepper looked extremely grateful, smiling down at him. "Thank you for saving us from cleaning that awful mess." She smiled, and offered a hand to help him up. He gladly took it, hopping to his feet.

"Do i get any thanks for catching our child?" Tony asked. 

"No." Pepper said, grabbing the ornament and placing it gently on the tree. 

"Cool, thanks."

"I think we did it everyone! Ornaments, placed!" Rhodey exclaimed, and stood back to look at the tree. 

"Something looks wrong." May commented thoughtfully. 

Happy looked up from where he was sitting with his newspaper and chuckled. "You forgot the fucking lights."

Everyone looked at eachother in a mixture of shock, betrayal, and disappointment. Pepper seemed to nail the disappointment part. 

"Wow." She said, holding her head in her hands with a sigh. "I didn't think we could mess this up. And yet, we managed to."

Peter smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe it's just a dark tree? That could be like, the look we are going for."

May looked at him, confused. "How exactly is it a Christmas tree then?"

"I don't know. Felt like someone needed to offer a suggestion. Anyone else got an idea?" He said, his gaze nervously darting around.

"We could take everything off and try again?" Rhodey said with a shrug. 

"No!" Tony shot back immediately. "We can figure it out. Teamwork."

"That's never really been our strong point." Rhodey said, receiving only a sharp look from Pepper.

They took out the strands of lights, and started from the top. Peter hopped onto the ceiling, hanging there easily with just his feet as they handed him the lights. He strung them around the top, then passed them to Pepper, who continued to the bottom. They somehow managed to put the lights on without breaking anything, which Peter considered a win. While the tree was being made, Morgan had finished decorating the tiny tree, which was now very much overshadowed by the large one. 

"Me and Pete's tree is sad." She whined. Tony looked at her, tilting his head. 

"Why's that?"

"The big tree is taking up all the attention. I think we should put the tiny tree on top of the big tree."

"Wha-?" 

Tony was interrupted by Peter, hopping down from the ceiling with an immediate yes.  
"She's right. I can attach the small one with my webs that don't dissolve or something like that. The better tree deserves to be on top. It's a star."

"No. Why? No." Tony said, looking around for support, which didn't seem to arrive. 

"Honestly, why not?" May looked at the tree thoughtfully, smiling to herself. Happy stood up, standing beside her. 

"Yeah, why not?" He added. Rhodey began to nod as well, and everyone looked to Pepper, who smiled. 

"Let's do it." 

Loud cheering erupted from Peter and Morgan, and Tony just stood there, dumbfounded. Peter ran upstairs to get his web formula, and when he came back down he had an extra spring to his step.

He grabbed Morgan's tree, and then placed it on top, quickly webbing it down as well as he could. The tree swayed slightly, but seemed to be okay. 

"This is the dumbest thing we have ever done, and that's saying a lot." Tony commented. 

The large tree stood tall, decorated in a very odd way. The right side of the tree had neatly placed ornaments of red and gold, the branches ruffled and perfectly positioned, sparkling in the low light of the white lights that wrapped around the tree. It was the epitome of elegance and beauty, looking like a tree from a magazine. The left side, however, was decorated randomly, with ornaments stuck on like stickers, some half falling off, the branches somehow both spread out way too far and also too cramped together. Above it all sat a sparse, ugly, slouching tree, disastrously decorated with very childlike ornaments that were all clearly homemade. It was very obviously added on, with spiderwebs drooping all over the place, the upper branches of the big tree covered in the thin white string. Finally, on top of the ugly tree sat a cute yellow star, gleaming above the chaotic mess that they had created.

"It's perfect." Peter said, starstruck. 

"It's amazing." Morgan added, her jaw dropped. 

"It's a nightmare." Tony whispered jokingly, receiving a sharp elbow to the side by Pepper, who was watching Morgan smiling and simply radiating happiness. 

"It's perfect." Tony finally said, leaning against Pepper. Because as he watched Morgan and Peter with huge smiles on their faces, lights reflecting on their eyes as they happily gazed upon the creation of their little family, he realized it really was. 

"Hot chocolate?" Morgan asked.

\---

Morgan and Peter walked hand in hand. Their nails were painted in green and red, (Peter's more sloppy as Morgan had done them, but not that bad), and they both wore large, disgustingly ugly Christmas sweaters that Tony had previously tried to ban from the household. The approached the mall, already dazzled by the twinkling, golden lights that hung from frosted windows, like fairies dancing in the wind. Happy trudged slowly behind them, huffing and puffing with his usual serious expression. He rolled his eyes at the two children before him, but there was no maliciousness in his gaze.

"Alright. I'll be sitting outside each store. Be gone." Happy grumbled, and Peter gave Morgan a solid high-five before spinning around as Morgan hopped in the air. 

"Who first, little miss?" Peter asked, jokingly bowing. Morgan giggled, and thought seriously for a moment, before smiling widely. 

"Mum!"

"Alright! Any ideas for her?"

Morgan looked around excitedly before her eyes rested upon a large toy store, bustling with people of all ages. Her eyes grew wide in wondrous excitement. "I know exactly what she would want?"

Peter's eyes narrowed uncertainly, and he tilted his head to the side, following her stubby finger pointed eagerly at the store. "In there?" He asked. 

"Yup! Come on Petey, no time-wasting!" She urged, and grabbed his hand, dragging him along with her. He laughed, and stumbled after her, catching his footing and half-sprinting into the store. 

Colours danced across the store, trains whizzing past them on tracks through the sky, toys lining the shelves, and children in bright clothing pointing to what they wanted with great enthusiasm. Peter tapped Morgan on the shoulder, gesturing towards the puzzles, rubix cubes and board games. 

"How about those, hmm?" 

Morgan shook her head quickly. "No, I know exactly what Mummy would want." She said, nodding her head to herself reassuringly. Peter shrugged. 

"Okay, kiddo. You go choose, I'll follow."

She bolted, running through the store with a frantic Peter following her but trying to maintain a human-like speed, which proved difficult. After pretty much leaping over top of a child, he arrived at Morgan's heels, where she stood, pointing. Peter followed her finger, and found himself more confused than ever. 

"That! Pete, can you go grab it! That one, the white one with the wreath!" She chirped shrilly. 

Peter went over to the shelf, and grabbed a large white rabbit with a Christmas wreath in it's hands. The Rabbit was almost as tall as Peter, and towered over Morgan, who was simply radiating joy and excitement at his feet. She marched over to the counter, indignant as always. Peter followed, pulling out the card that Tony had given him for Christmas shopping. He had tried very, very hard to refuse the man, saying no on multiple occasions, but Tony explained that it was to buy the things that Morgan wanted to get for everyone else, and it would be unfair to just give one kid the money. 

The cashier smiled as they approached, and Peter lay the rabbit on the counter, flashing his card. She seemed to stifle a laugh, and scanned the rabbit. Peter swiped his card, and passed the large white rabbit to Morgan, who grabbed it eagerly and sprinted out to go see Happy. Peter smiled at the cashier, and followed Morgan. 

Happy looked up from his phone, looking confused as well. "Who's that for bud?" He asked, grabbing the rabbit and putting it next to them. Morgan gave it one last hug before turning to Happy. 

"Mummy!" She said, and Happy did the unthinkable. He doubled over in laughter, a loud, thunderous roar of glee, and wiped tears from his eyes. His face was beet red, and he pulled out his phone with a flourish, snapping a picture. 

"I've gotta show Rhodes." He cackled, and sent it off. He finally finished his laughing, and looked over at Morgan, back to his professional self. 

"Continue. I'll carry the stuff."

"What are you gonna buy for Mummy, Pete?" Morgan asked, looking up at him with her chocolate brown eyes, filled with a gentle warmth. 

"I'm thinking jewelry. A locket, perhaps?" He asked, and Morgan seemed to agree, grabbing his hand and leading him to the jewelry store. Before they got there, a large man stopped before them, holding out his hand. Peter raised his head, slowly and carefully pushing Morgan behind him as he glared defiantly. Morgan seemed to share the same look, her nose scrunched up in a frown. The man just smiled. 

"Is this the Morgan Stark?" He asked. Morgan had gained quite a bit of popularity. They had tried to keep her a secret, but the press refused to leave them alone. Peter took a step forward, narrowing his eyes and trying to look intimidating, although he was significantly shorter. Morgan cowered behind him, eyes wide. She wasn't used to seeing an angry, or even slightly defensive Peter. He was usually the happy, cheerful brother that played games with her and watched cartoons. It was odd to see him behave like this. 

"Why the fuck do you care?" Peter asked, his lip raising in a sneer. The man backed up, holding his hands in the air. 

"Woah, woah. Just wanna look at the genius kid. Who're you? You're no Stark." The man said, inspecting him closely. Peter rolled his eyes. 

"Just fuck off, creep." He grabbed Morgan's hand, holding her tightly against him, and pushed off the man, who seethed with anger, starting to follow them with fast steps. Peter braced himself, hauling Morgan up into his arms and clenching his fists. The man was stopped by a strict looking Happy, who stepped in front protectively, giant rabbit on the bench behind him. Peter walked away, heading toward the jewelry store, and placing Morgan back on the ground.

"You good Morgan?" Peter asked, crouching low to look her in the eyes. She nodded, giving him two thumbs-up. 

They walked into the store, and Peter looked through all the displays. Some had grand necklaces, coated in sapphires and rubies and diamonds, glittering on the dark blue velvet coverings. Store employees watched them carefully, not expecting to see two children in a high-end store. Peter finally spotted a very simple silver locket, shaped like a heart, with a delicate silver chain. Morgan pointed at it as soon as she saw it, and a store employee walked over. 

"What are you looking for?" She asked. Peter pointed at the locket.

"A present for her mom. We have chosen this one." 

The lady nodded, peering at him carefully, before unlocking the case and pulling out the locket. Peter walked over to the cash, paid, and gratefully accepted the little black box that they gave him, shoving the necklace into the pocket of his ratty winter jacket.

"Alright. Pepper's done. Who next?"

"Daddy!" 

"Okay. I think I'm gonna wait and get your dad's gift another time because I have something in mind. What are you thinking?"

"Rubix cube!" She cheered. Peter had given up asking, but Morgan explained. 

"He's very smart. He can do it easy, but I wanna see how easy."

"Ah, I see. Go wait with Happy and the bunny, I can go get it myself."

Peter went quickly back to the toy store, the cashier giving him another smile, and returned, placing the multi-coloured cube in her awaiting hands. She hugged it to her chest, then passed it off to Happy. 

"Auntie May next!" She suggested. Peter frowned. 

"I think I'll wait this one out too. What are you gonna get her?"

"I dunno. Let's walk around, I'll think of something."

They strolled through the mall, Happy following at a distance as to not draw any more attention to the two. People stared in awe as the Morgan Stark walked by, Morgan Stark herself, Morgan Stark who's dad saved the universe. Morgan Stark who was currently skipping over cracks in the tile floor because they were filled with lava, apparently. 

"Peter, you're gone! Ha! You touched a crack, you touched a crack!" She teased in a song like voice. Peter laughed. 

"Yeah, you win! I surrender!" He said, then pushed her lightly, being very careful to control his strength, and making her stumble onto a crack. She frowned, but there was no sadness behind it. 

"Hey! You cheated! Unfair." She whined, looking up at Peter with her deep brown eyes that tugged at the heartstrings. Her rosy cheeks lit up her face, and she suddenly stopped mid-step. 

"Pete! Look!" She said, gesturing wildly towards a small kiosk in the mall. It was one of those calendar stores, that you'd buy for joke gifts. It was lined with all sorts of calendars, ones with puppies and butterflies and kittens, ones with angels and one that Peter felt his heart soar when he saw it because his own mask was staring back at him. He held back tears of joy and reminded himself to text Ned because what the fuck he was on cal-

"Peter! Hey! What's Auntie May's favourite animal?" Morgan said, poking his arm rapidly and tugging at his sleeve. She pulled one off the shelf carefully, making sure that she was delicate with the pages, of course. This calendar had pictures of Iron Man for everyday of the year. Peter chuckled. 

"As much as Auntie May loves your dad, I think she would hate seeing him on a daily basis in her own home. He's not exactly a calming man." Peter explained, and Morgan rolled her eyes. 

"Everyone loves Iron Man, Peter! He's awesome!" She said, and Peter could practically see the stars of admiration in her eyes. Her entire face was filled with childlike glee, and it reminded Peter of himself, when he used to constantly wear Iron Man masks. Iron Man had pulled him out of such hard times. Whenever he had no friends, Iron Man was there, the mask hanging on his wall. When Flash called him names, Iron Man was on some stupid poster in the hallway, making Peter feel a little bit better. When he had to tell May something that made her cry for days, he gave her an Iron Man plush to make her feel better, because he trusted that if he was happy when he saw Iron Man, she would be too. He was happy that Morgan could have such joy brought to her from the hero that her father represented. 

"You know what? You're right, Mo. Everyone loves Iron Man!" He said, leaning down to ruffle her hair. She gave him a glare, rolling her eyes, but still laughed, happy that she had won the argument. 

They bought the calendar, and Morgan looked up at Peter suddenly, her eyes lit with inspiration and Christmas lights. "Uncle Happy's gift! I know just what to get him!" She shouted, causing quite a few people to look towards them.

"To the toy store!" She exclaimed, and Peter tilted his head. 

"Again?" 

"Yup!"

"Alright." Peter responded, and they walked all the way back, Morgan hopping over cracks as he held her hand. 

Morgan headed straight for the fidget toy section, and Peter was puzzled until he saw what she had picked out. He burst into laughter, wiping tears from his eyes as he wheezed. 

"So worth coming back." He choked out. Morgan was currently holding a happy face stress ball, with a tag that read, 'for the people in your life who can't seem to enjoy anything.'

"Perfect, Mo. Amazing." Peter complimented. Morgan smiled proudly. 

"He always says how stressed you and Daddy make him, for some reason, so I thought he might need one of these!" She chirped. Peter nodded vehemently. 

"Yup! To the cash. God, Mr. Stark's gonna lose it when he sees this..." Peter said with a chuckle. He turned to see Happy on the bench, pointing to his watch, and mouthed that he would be there soon. 

Today was an awesome day. 

\--- 

Peter was stressed. This feeling wasn't really new to him, of course. The spidey sense didn't seem to do anything but put him in a constant state of worry. But with Christmas coming up, and all the frantic joy and excitement for the holidays, he had totally forgotten to get gifts for the three most important people in his life. 

May, Tony, and Morgan. 

Fuck. 

As the school bell rang, he exited his last class with Ned excitably chattering at his side about some new Lego Star Wars set. He felt a little bad for not listening to his best friend, but his mind was preoccupied and buzzing with thoughts like moths to a lamp.

"Hey, Peter! Wanna do that tonight?" 

Ned's voice interrupted the swarming of Peter's head, and he spun around on his heel.

"Tonight?" He asked. 

"Uh, yeah. Me and MJ are coming over? Remember?"

Memories of their past conversation flooded back to Peter's mind. 

"Oh, shit! Yeah, totally. Let's go get our stuff, then we can walk over." Peter took a deep breath. He loved his best friends, but this would mean that he wouldn't have the extra night to think about gifts, and there was only like, a week until Christmas, and-

Peter did his lock combination without looking, tugging on it a few times as it wouldn't open before it shattered in his hands. Ned's eyes grew wide, and he stood in front of Peter's locker in a very non-casual way as Peter shoved the pieces of metal into the unseen depths of his locker. MJ rolled her eyes as she approached. 

"Another one, Parker?" She said, grinning. She had already grabbed her bag, and he swung his over his shoulder, waiting for a hurrying Ned who arrived promptly at his side. 

"Let's go!" Ned cheered. He chatted with MJ eagerly, and Peter heard them bring up the fact that they were planning on making cookies tonight, as Ned had all the ingredients in his bag. MJ seemed to be looking over at Peter much more than usual, and he always faked a smile as to not seem suspicious, but she clearly wasn't fooled. 

They finally arrived at Peter's apartment building, and MJ plopped herself onto the couch and connected to the internet as Ned began taking out cookie supplies. May was coming home later that night, so they had plenty of time. MJ had apparently prepared a recipe before hand, and was pulling it up. 

"Chocolate chip, Ned's mom's favourites. She'll love it Ned. Did you bring the basket?" She asked, and he nodded, popping a handful of chocolate chips into his mouth as MJ did the same. 

"Don't eat all of them guys, we still need some for the cookies." Peter said with a smile, and Ned shook his head, grinning back. He pulled out an extra bag, and grabbed another handful. Peter copied. 

"Who's on music duty?" MJ asked, and Ned pulled out his phone in an instant.

"Me!"

"I swear to God, if I have to hear Jingle Bells one more time I will lose it-" She warned, but the loud sound of the opening of Jingle Bells drowned her out. She hissed out a curse word, but was put off by Peter sticking his hands to his head. She motioned for Ned to turn it down, but he was occupied by dancing obnoxiously and did not notice. Peter's eyes were slammed shut, and he winced harshly as the music seemed to somehow get louder before his hand shot out without him noticing and he dragged Ned's phone towards him with a web, aggressively pressing his finger on the volume down button.

Ned's face dropped. "Sorry Peter, I didn't know it was one of those days, I just put it to normal volume-" He stopped as MJ shushed him, tilting her head as she examined Peter carefully. Her dark eyes searched his as if requiring an answer, which he found that he could not provide. 

"What's wrong? This isn't the usual, 'my senses are causing me great pain' face. Something's up." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ned walked around the counter, clearly very worried. Peter tried to ignore them. 

"Cookies?" He suggested, but was shut down by a glare from Ned. 

"No. What's wrong?" Ned asked, gently and kindly, but Peter wanted to punch him. 

"Nothing. Let's just make the cookies, alright?" He said again, but MJ grabbed his hand and forcefully dragged him to the living room, where she pushed him onto the couch as his friends sat on either side of him. 

"Explain." She said, and then went silent. Peter felt his eyes well up with tears and didn't notice as they began to fall upon his slowly reddening cheeks. 

"It's stupid." He mumbled, wiping a tear away and taking a short breath. His friends were silent, so he continued. 

"I'm sorry guys, we just wanted to bake, and now I'm being all whiny and all that. Let's just continue, the music was fine, I should've told you that I was a little sensitive today, and Ned needs to finish the-"

He stopped as sob wracked his body. 

"Ned needs to finish the- the gift- for his M-Mom, and we just need to continue, I'm sorry." Peter explained, his voice breaking miserably. He felt a hand on either shoulder, and tried to gasp back tears.

"Peter, we can't continue if we know something's wrong, alright? We just can't." Ned said softly, his hands warm.

"This Christmas, it's- it's not- I don't know how to explain it!" He said, letting out a loud wail. "It's just- I need to get a gift for May and for Tony and for Morgan, and they mean so much to me, and I feel like they're always giving up so much for me, and I'm taking up so much of their time! I need to give them something, but I just- I can't think of anything! Nothing! I'm so fucking stupid."

He paused. 

"It's my first Christmas that I'm celebrating, or- I guess we're all celebrating, huh- the first one since the snap. And it's my first one with Mr. Stark, and I feel like I'm betraying Uncle Ben, you know? But I love Tony, and I can't wait for Christmas, but I don't want Ben to feel like i'm replacing him, or May to think that I'm replacing Ben with Mr. Stark." He took another shuddering breath. 

"I just don't know what to do." He said finally, his throat sore and raspy. MJ and Ned looked at one another, a long glance that felt like an hour to Peter.

"Peter, let's take these problems one by one, okay?" MJ said, speaking first. Peter looked up, expecting to see her usual, bored face, but instead he only saw concern, which somehow felt worse.

"Gifts. First off, you aren't wasting people's time, Peter. They like spending time with you. That's why they do it. They aren't forced to, no one is making them do it. They want to be with you. You being there is enough of a gift. But, I also understand that you want to show your gratitude for them being in your life. So, how about this: Let's go through them one by one, and together, we can think of something, okay?" MJ suggested, and Peter nodded shakily, feeling unable to form words. 

"Alright, how about we start with May. Ned, what do you think May would like?" MJ asked, and Ned brightened up. 

"Something simple, but filled with love. It doesn't need to be complex, it shouldn't be complex. Just something that would mean a lot to her. Something that reminds her of you." He said, and MJ smiled. 

"Sounds good. Peter, do you have any ideas for something like that. Peter sniffled again, and looked around the room, before stopping suddenly. He pointed to the wall, and tried to speak, but no noise came out. Ned understood. 

"There used to be a clock there. It was one of those cute cat clocks where the tail goes back and forth as the time ticks. When the- you know- happened, the other family that moved in took it down, and May hasn't been able to find it since. She was really bummed about it. We could order one off of Amazon?" He suggested, and MJ nodded.

"Is he right, Peter?" She asked, and made a thumbs-up. MJ continued.

"Alright, let's go for Morgan next. She likes Spider-man a lot, right? I mean, she likes you, but she really likes the suit and the superhero stuff?"

"Yeah, she loves it. She always asks Peter about every single thing that has to do with Spider-man. He always answers every single question, the Q&A's have lasted hours." He laughed a little, and Peter took a deep breath. 

"Okay, how about you show her then? The next few times that you do simple stuff, like swing through the city, or do flips and dives, save some cats, help people cross the street, film it, and make a little movie clip for her. Film stuff from the top of buildings, and then she can watch it and see what Spider-man sees." MJ said, and Peter perked up. He smiled slightly, and she took that as a yes. 

"Awesome! Now, let's do Stark. Well, Mr. Stark, to you, I guess. Ned, input?"

"Mr. Stark is the kind of guy that would melt if he saw anything wholesome that Peter had made, or done. He's a softie, I've seen it, trust me. Wait, Peter, has he seen any pictures of you as a kid?" Ned asked, and Peter's eyes went wide. He smiled, wiping away a tear.

"You know what I'm thinking, huh?" Ned asked, and Peter gave him a quick high-five. 

"What?" MJ asked. "I'm feeling out of the loop over here."

"Peter was Tony's number one fan. All the merch. Everything. Went to Stark Expo, almost died. We could give Mr. Stark a big photo album with some copies of photos of Peter as a kid." Ned grinned. 

"He's gonna love that a little too much." MJ said, playfully rolling her eyes. Her tone then shifted back to serious.

"And the last thing." Ned said, looking Peter in the eyes. 

"I knew Ben. I met him quite a few times. And I know that he loves you. He's watching over you, and he wants you to be happy, Peter. That's all he wants, okay?" Ned grabbed a photo of Ben off the shelf. It was dust-free.

"He loves you, Peter. And he's looking down on you right now, a smile on his face. He knows that Mr. Stark is important to you, and good to you, and that's all he wants. Uncle Ben, your mom, your dad, they're all looking down at you. And all of them want you to go and be with your family. Because you aren't replacing them or leaving them, they're right next to you. You're just expanding your family." Ned said, and Peter felt his heart plummet to his stomach.

Peter looked at the photo of Ben carefully, and closed his eyes, thinking back to when he was a kid. He smiled, a tear falling onto the glass, and a shiver went up his spine. He could've sworn the room got a whole lot colder, even with MJ and Ned's warm hands on his back. He looked up at another picture, of his parents, holding him in his arms, and he could've sworn he heard their voices, felt their touch, their presence. He looked back at Ben, then collapsed into Ned's arms, sobbing. Ned waited with him for a few minutes, until his loud wailing had become a soft sniffle. 

He looked up at Ned, then at MJ, and brought them both in for a hug, much to MJ's fake displeasure. 

And as he looked up at his parents, then at Uncle Ben, he felt a true, genuine smile come onto his face. 

"Cookies?" He suggested, and MJ and Ned laughed. 

Ned was right.

His family was just expanding.

\--

It was the moment.

The day.

It was fucking Christmas. 

Tony entered the room to his family waiting around the tree. Morgan sat on the floor, staring at the presents. Peter, May and Happy were crammed onto a couch together, and Rhodey and Pepper sat on the couch, leaving space for him. 

"Hey guys." He said. 

"Merry Christmas!" They all responded, in perfect unison. Pepper nodded to Morgan, who began to unwrap her first gift as Tony sat down. 

She tore at the paper eagerly, and pulled out her own Iron Man mask. It was pink and purple, and seemed to be painted in a shimmery chrome. It was very beautiful. After receiving a sharp look from Pepper, Tony explained that it was only usable to talk to her own AI that he had created, that could access no weapons, and was just for chat. Morgan was practically jumping with joy, and danced around happily. 

She then opened a gift that was almost as tall as the tree to receive a large teddy bear, and May and Happy high-fived as she collapsed into its arms.

Pepper had given her a huge Lego set, which she explained was so that she and Peter could play together with a game that Peter liked. She was very happy, and babbled excitedly to Peter about her new toys.

Rhodey had gotten her a jetpack that he saw on a kid's commercial. Apparently all the cool kids had a jetpack, and he felt as though she needed it. 

She opened what seemed like hundreds more toys from her parents, other avengers, and everyone who had ever met her, until she got to Peter's DVD. He smiled nervously as she popped it into the TV, and it opened to Peter's excited voice, talking to Karen. Morgan knew what it was immediately. 

"Spider-Man!" She cheered, and her eyes were glued to the screen. She watched as he saved countless cats from trees, including one that seemed to have a tentacle instead of a tongue, which Rhodey commented that it must be a new breed. 

She never took her eyes off the footage, and when it was done, chanted, "Again, Again!" Peter assumed he did good, and made a mental note to thank his friends. 

Pepper was very happy as she received another pair of jumper cables from a smiling Tony, and a collection of wine from all over the world, a popcorn maker, and a ticket to a spa day with May. She loved the locket very much, and her large bunny rabbit caused quite a bit of chaos as she unwrapped it, and Tony lost his mind with laughter, hugging his daughter and complimenting her endlessly.

Happy opened things like he usually did, grumpily with an overwhelming glint of joy in his eyes. He could barely breathe from laughter as he unwrapped the smiley face stress ball, and smiled at his large amount of beef jerky that Tony had got for him. 

May happily opened a calendar, which she thanked Morgan multiple times for, and smiled as Happy draped a gorgeous necklace around her neck, complete with matching earrings. She received a truckload of Spider-Man merchandise from Tony, and almost cried as she unwrapped Peter's gift. 

"Ben got this for me. I was so sad when it was gone." She explained, her eyes welling up with tears as she pulled him into a tight hug. 

Rhodey smiled as he got the same gift he got every year, about three hundred rubber chickens. No one knew why, but he and Tony laughed for a solid twenty minutes as they were individually unwrapped by the group as a team effort. 

Tony actually did cry as he opened Peter's gift, and he flipped through the photo album happily, laughing at the hundreds of pictures of a young boy holding so much Iron Man merch that it spilled out of his arms, and promising that if Peter ever wanted more he could provide.

Peter gave May a tight hug as he received three, "Mandatory Spider-Man" cards from her, which allowed him to go and Spider-Man whenever he needed for however long he needed, no explanation necessary. He received a whole book of art from Morgan, which he thanked her for many, many times, and almost cried as opened Tony's gift, which was an invitation for them to build his own custom car together so that when he could drive, he would be able to drive a 'non-loser car' as Tony so kindly said. 

As they all watched their awful tree, laughed at bad movies and ate cookies, Peter thought back to what Ned had said. He felt three cold, cold hands on his back, and didn't need to look back and check, because he knew who was there. He knew who was there as Morgan said she felt way too cold all of a sudden, like someone super cold wrapped her tight into a hug, and he knew who was there when Tony froze, and he heard the man say something like, "I'll take care of them, I promise."

His family wasn't being replaced, because they were all there.

It was just expanding.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Hope you like! Merry Christmas!!!!


End file.
